6 minute read
Beyond Tomorrow’ ICE North America
Kate Chambers, Managing Director, Clarion Gaming chats to Peter White
uring the Coronavirus pandemic, trade shows and conventions have been dropping left and right. This puts a strain on industry members who rely on events like ICE North America to keep abreast of developments in gaming. What to do? Enter Ice North America Digital, a virtual version of the New Orleans trade show, delivered online in bite-sized morsels. Kate Chambers of Clarion Gaming walks us through how it came about and what to expect. D
For those who may want to know more about what is happening with ICE North America 2020 could we commence this interview with an explanation what is the situation with regards this year’s event and its Digital version and the 2021 Event?
It’s no exaggeration to say that COVID-19 represents the world’s most serious public health crisis for generations. It is having a horrific and far reaching impact on every facet of life, and for the time being at least, the pandemic is changing the way in which all of us conduct business. After lengthy consultation with our partners and colleagues, we took the decision to transport the fantastic content produced for ICE North America online and create the ultimate digital content experience, comprising three hours of outstanding content each day running from Monday, May 11 to Friday, May 15. Rather than trying to recover any of our costs, we are making every element of the ICE North America digital experience totally free, which means absolutely no pay walls and no hidden charges. It was very important that we didn’t simply cancel but instead explored a way in which we were able to continue to engage with our stakeholders albeit using a very different approach. Of course we would much prefer to have been able to do this face-to-face in New Orleans, but the entire team is focused and excited to be involved in the first edition of ICE North America Digital. I think once again, this shows how important it is to have a strong and robust brand that the industry including our speakers, really trusts. We will return in 2021 committed to the delivery of another best in class, professional and compelling in-person ICE North America.
Kate Chambers, Managing Director, Clarion Gaming
How is ICE North America going to work and how can they subscribe?
ICE North America Digital has been curated to deliver the same expert insights delegates would have received at the in-person exhibition and conference. Our philosophy is to view business as a lifetime relationship and not as a transaction, which is why we are supporting our customers in the way that they have supported us and helped our brands to flourish. As such we opted to make the streamed industry content, discussions and debate totally free. There are no hidden costs or pay walls. The topical content is being delivered by 40 industry experts, across 10 sessions and delivering 15+ hours of learning. For purely technical reasons each seminar is limited to 500 subscribers. We have already experienced huge demand for places, so we encourage anyone interested to sign up as soon as possible by visiting www.icenorthamerica.com/ice-north-america-digital The timings are 4.30pm – 6.00pm BST/8.30am – 10.00am PST.
What are the main topics on the conference schedule for the live streamed series of webinars?
In broad terms, the subjects comprise: iGaming, News Reporting, Guest Insights, Non-Gaming Revenue and Integrated Resorts, iLottery, Customer Acquisition
and Retention, PASPA, Sports Betting, Payments, and Corporate Citizenship, with insights provided by experts from land-based, sports betting, tribal and hospitality technology industries. The opening module looks at iGaming and whether it represents a threat to the US gambling eco-system. This is followed by a session entitled - ‘Capturing eyeballs and market share: An opportunity for performance marketers?’ which explores the opportunities to harness credible news reporting as a way of building brand recognition. On day two, the first stream looks at how digital marketing can be used to optimize offerings and improving guest insights to drive revenue, followed by the role of non-gaming entertainment in generating income with particular reference to the future of IR when over 50 percent of all revenue will come from non-gaming activities. Day three will focus on iLottery, how to get noticed in a crowded online space, what’s required to launch and how it can complement retail operations. This will be followed by an analysis of the challenges facing customer acquisition and retention. Thursday, the penultimate day of ICE North America Digital, will analyse where the United States industry is two years after the PASPA repeal and what the future holds for sports betting regulation across the US. Our final two sessions of ICE North America Digital will ask Is Cash still king? and the future for meeting consumer demands for fast, safe and secure transactions. We then have arguably one of the most significant and timely macro issues surrounding sustainability and how the industry in its broadest sense can present itself as a good corporate citizen.
Gaming Operators along with Industry Manufacturing and Supply organizations need to know what they can expect post Coronavirus. How is ICE North America 2020 Digital going to address many of their issues and concerns?
Wherever it’s relevant or appropriate, the content has been updated and analysed against the backdrop of COVID-19, which has clearly had a profound impact on the global gaming market. ICE North America Digital, has been curated to help the industry navigate the way ahead. Understandably, there is an awful lot of uncertainty about what the future looks like and our experts comprising high-profile thought leaders including the likes of Michael Daly, General Manager US, Catena Media; Daniel Kustelski, Co-Founder and CEO, Chalkline Sports; Brian Edwards, Founder & CEO, Edwards Technologies, Inc; Bobby Soper, President & CEO, Sun Gaming + Hospitality and Colleen Birch, SVP, Revenue Optimization, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas – to name but a few – will help the industry to embark on the road to recovery. While there will be a sharp focus on North America we will also be encouraging an exchange of information and insight from different parts of the world. Even within Europe countries are approaching the crisis in different ways and are at different stages of lockdown.
What role do events and exhibitions play in the current climate?
Everyone in the global gaming community is under pressure and for many that pressure is intense. The pledge we make to all of our stakeholders is to work alongside them and deliver the very best opportunities to help improve and develop their business. This undertaking is even more important during periods of uncertainty, unease and upset such as the one that we are all currently enduring. Clarion Gaming has helped the global industry to enjoy the good times and we are resolute in our commitment to stand shoulder to shoulder with the industry during the bad times. The strap line or slogan that Clarion Gaming has adopted is ‘Beyond Tomorrow’, which encapsulates what we always work hard to deliver and that’s a vision of the future. Rather than look back on the past, we are always looking to the future, helping our stakeholders to identify opportunities and rise to the challenges.
How are you planning to deliver the all important networking opportunities?
On the Friday, the last day of ICE North America Digital, we are hosting a Wrap-Up Networking Party. The live online meet-up will allow our digital delegates to focus on what matters most and that’s connections. The mixer provides a smaller scale, more personalized platform for the gaming community to stay connected at a time when physically we’re more disconnected than ever, it also delivers access to a wider range of participants than those typically able to attend an in-person event. Once the event begins, there are networking icebreakers, topical breakout rooms, video conference capabilities and more in order to facilitate valuable and easily accessible connections. We have used a company called SwapCard in order to introduce this networking capability. This means that there will be opportunities for participants to ask questions. They will be able to engage with the speakers after the sessions have concluded.
